redbaron9898

My Feedback: (2)

I'm thinking of getting a Heli i cant decide on which one to get
I have kind of narrowed it down to Blade 400 or a Mini titan
there really are no good reviews on the Blade 400

Im not really looking at price or if its RTF or not i am more looking for Durability and Flight characteristics
Any recommendations?

Druss

The electronics that come with the blade 400 aren't that great. By getting the mt you can put what you want on it, seems like the better way to go if you have the money.

redbaron9898

My Feedback: (2)

what about performance wise

I thought that the spectrum radios were great! What part of the electronics are bad?
radio? servos? gyro?

dooleyje

You are not comparing apples to apples. The mini Titan is way beyond the 400 and should not be see on the same level. That being said for the price the 400 can't be beat and the electronics are just fine. If it were me I would go to Amain hobby and purchase the mini Titan and put your own stuff in it, You can get the bare mini TiTan for well under $150. I have flown the 400 and it flys very well. I have flown the mini Titan and it flys great with top shelf equipment installed. Parts for 400 are readly handy at most LHS.

Jim

Jim

Druss

The radio is fine, the servos and gyro have had complaints. If you're picky about your stuff then I'd suggest that you just get the mini titan and put what you want in it. I'm not saying the blade 400 is a bad heli, just that it's not as good as the MT and doesn't have the electronics that most of us would choose. But then again as an RTF for around $450 it's a good deal. The mini titan w/ good gear and radio will cost you over $600.

cli8m

If you're just starting out, with no existing radio or electronics, then the 400 is the way to go. Especially if the LHS stocks the parts!

gfyss

My Feedback: (14)

As always, it depends on your skill level and what you expect. I have a B400 so I can step out my garage and get a flying fix without abandoning my wife to the kids for 2-4 hours. I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner, but anything above that should be able to handle it. The stock servos are not the greatest, so I swapped them out for HS-65HB's and found a true digital servo (Spektrum DSP75) for the tail. I put in a gy401 just because that's what I'm used to. Other than putting on FRP blades, that's it. The B400 is more capable than my current skill level (I'm more of a scale flyer than 3D), but I've seen others put ones nearly identical to mine through some pretty rough 3D routines. If you see any of my helis doing 3D, that's the signal to run the other way.

Here's a link to the discussion on tips, tricks, and mods for the B400: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_6843765/tm.htm

Good luck on your decision!

redbaron9898

My Feedback: (2)

Ok i have the radio gear but nothing else
I called my LHS and they stock Blade 400 parts And T-rex 450 parts
Should i just treat myself to a T-rex 450 SA?

Skarn

The TREX 450 SA is an awesome heli! Like the Mini Titan, YOU put in your own electronics and you'll get the build experience that will help when you have to rebuild after a crash.

A good thing about the SA is that its cheaper than the SE and as you break things, you can always upgrade to metal.

If you get the TREX 450 SA, the "standard" good electronics are as follows:

Cyclic Servos: HITEC HS-65mg (3 of them)
Tail/Rudder Servo: Futaba S9650
Gyro: Futaba GY-401

Good luck bro!
Skarn

dooleyje

The 65HB is a little cheaper in price and are just as good as the 65MG. But both are the norm. If you get the Trex450SA The 9650 servo will be slow because the SA comes with a 5V BEC in the 35G ESC. A better solution would be a 9257with a speed of .08 vs the 9650 .14 in 5V. If you really want to hop it up then use the 35x ESC with the blue heat sink and it has a 6Vbec and then the 9650 would make more since.

Jim

Druss

Also, the logictech 2100t is as good a gyro as the 401 and $40 less.

Skarn

I'd have to respectfully disagree with you on that one. Yes they are fine for the trex but the gears being that they are not metal tend to strip a lot more. I've read post after post of these stripping...and yes it's not hard to replace the gears, but it's a PITA to me.

Skarn

dooleyje

Well for me with well over 300 flights and a couple of crashes on my SA I have not lost any HB servo gears. On my SEV2 with over 175 flights and 1 crash. yes you guessed it, no broken gears. My CopterxSEv2 300 plus flights, 1 crash and 1 knock off the bench and hard banging and still no broken gears. Wow seems pretty strong to me! and 10 bucks cheaper and enough money saved to get a nice set of carbon blades. The MGs are great but not really needed. As they say proof is in the pudding,, respectfully.

Yep the 2100 is a good gyro and smaller than the 401.

Jim

Druss

What I did was buy the hbs and then a set of metal gears, haven't had to use the gears yet.

RC David

redbaron,

To answer your question, the mini-Titan is probably more durable but definitely shows better flight characteristics than a Blade 400. I researched both (in addition to the T-Rex) myself about 6 months ago. Here is the general consensus.

- Blade 400 Is actually smaller than a mini-Titan & T-Rex. It's also a little squirrely and needs to be "tweaked" out of the box to get it to fly smoothly. The magazine reviews that have now been written on the B400 agree. It needs better servos on the swash right out of the box. One reviewer actually didn't recommend it for a beginner. The main advantage is LHS parts support and getting a heli/radio RTF that's "almost" ready to fly (but will not handle as well as a mini-Titan or T-Rex).

- mini-Titan Has excellent durability (even the standard plastic version) and the flight characteristics are simply SUPERB! The excellent ratings it got in the reviews are right on. It's most complete kit is still an ARF though so you have to add your radio etc. and then get some help trimming it initially but after that it's ready to rock & roll. Most well stocked LHS's (including mine) carry mini-Titan parts too.

It's not on your list but just FYI, the T-Rex is pretty good but is a "little" harder to work on because of the side frame design. I've also personally flown a professionally set up T-Rex SE and it WOULD NOT fly or even hold a hover as easy as the mini-Titan. It's main advantage is local parts support.

Hope this helps.


Dave

-Blade CX-2
-mini-Titan
-E550 Raptor

redbaron9898

My Feedback: (2)

RC david
thank you for helping me
I think i am going to my LHS today and asking them what my best option would be.
Im leaning toward the mini titan now...Don't you have to cover the blades?

RC David

No problem.

The MT blades are already covered but you will need to glue the blade grips (ends) on. I (and most people) don't like the stock woodies. They are "ok" to start but the preferred ones are Align Wood Pro Blades (about $13.00)

If this is your first heli I'd REALLY suggest going with the mini-Titan. I think you will be much happier all the way around. To be totally honest, if I had started with a T-Rex I may have quit RC helis by now just out of disappointment in it's flight stability. I know some people say they fly pretty good but that was not my experience with a brand new one set up by a LHS. It was pretty unstable. []

The mini-Titan is much quieter too.


Dave D.

redbaron9898

My Feedback: (2)

im pretty new to helis
i have had an HBK2 that was good for learning but not much more
i want something that i can get into 3D with

dooleyje

The Titan will do anything you want in 3D. The Trex can be a little harder to fly because of how hot it can be set up. Just like the Titan will be when you set it up hot. Both will be what you make of them. I have a Trex SA that will hover hands off but it is not set up for banging 3D like my TrexSE. To say The Trex is not a stable flyer is not really true. sorry. Yes the SE is a handful when set up hot. At any rate you can't go wrong with either one.

Jim

redbaron9898

My Feedback: (2)

I have a 3800kv brushless motor will that work in the mini titan?

dooleyje

Purrrrrrrfect size. Will have plenty of power.

Jim

redbaron9898

My Feedback: (2)

it is an esky outrunner motor
i used it on my HBK2
i only have a 25 amp esc though

dooleyje

I would use a 30-40 amp. You will have a bigger draw on the servos and gyro than the HBK2. You can use the one that TT recommends or use the Align 35x or G. I uae the Align and after hundreds of flights on 3 helis, not a single problem, glitch or brown out. About 53 bucks. Did you decide on the Mini Titan? If so get it from www.amainhobbies.com Very nice price in a kit.

Jim

redbaron9898

My Feedback: (2)

i think i am going to get the mini titan
get new blades right away


So the esky motor will work?
just get a better esc?
i only have a telebee gyro too

redbaron9898

My Feedback: (2)

so here is what i was thinking of buying
1 mini titan kit
4 HS-65hb servos
1 align bl35g 35A

i have:
Radio tx and rx
telebee gyro
esky 3800kv motor
and a battery

***will this work?***